Medicare approves FDG-PET for cervical cancer staging

(DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING) -- Medical imagers can now expect Medicare to routinely cover FDG-PET for initial staging of cervical cancer, thanks to a national coverage ruling announced Nov. 10. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reconsidered an earlier decision against coverage. Ruling on an appeal, it concluded that enough clinical evidence has been published to show that FDG-PET helps guide the clinical management of cervical cancer patients and has a positive effect on patient outcomes. Because of the ruling, Medicare will reimburse providers for a single FDG-PET procedure for staging Medicare beneficiaries with biopsy-proven cervical cancer. The findings are to be used to determine the location and extent of the cervical carcinoma for any of the three following therapeutic roles: : - To judge if the patient is a good candidate for invasive diagnostic or therapeutic procedures - To determine the anatomic site for an intervention - And to measure the anatomic extent of tumors targeted for therapy. Dr. Michael M. Graham, SNM president, welcomed the decision.

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